Short stature and early adolescent self-evaluations

Henry, Ann Josephine (1998) Short stature and early adolescent self-evaluations. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This thesis contains a study of young people recruited from a 'normal' (i.e. non-clinic) community sample. An important factor in the research design was ensuring that height was not made salient to participants during completion of the psychological measures. To this end, height questions were embedded within a standardised self-worth questionnaire. On the basis of these questions the young people were covertly assigned to two groups namely those who perceived themselves as average height and those who perceived themselves as shorter than their peers. A further major innovation for research in this area was the use of qualitative methodology. The present study was designed to incorporate both normative and idiographic material which included open-ended self-descriptions of the young people in an early adolescent sample (aged 11-14). The main theoretical basis for this study concerns Self-Discrepancy Theory proposed by Higgins (1987).

The focus of the findings presented refer to self-perceived shortness as opposed to normative measures of short stature. In the final phase of the study actual height measurements were recorded which showed that pupils assigned to the perceived short group were indeed shorter than those who had perceived themselves as average height.

To a limited extent, the findings show some support for earlier medical research which found lower ratings of self-worth for short children and adolescents. Interpretation of the self-discrepancy data is less clear cut. Results show that those who perceived themselves as short do have larger discrepancies between the actual and ideal selves, but only in regard to height constructs. No significant differences were found in the content of the self-description data suggesting that young people who perceive themselves as short do not necessarily describe themselves more negatively than their peers. Self-discrepancy theory provides an innovative basis for exploring the multidimensional facets of self-concept.

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